Minesto

Key takeaways

Minesto belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Minesto to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Minesto from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Minesto AB is a Swedish developer of electricity producing tidal kite turbines, based in Gothenburg. As of 2025 the company is focused on developing projects in the Faroe Islands. They also had a manufacturing base in Holyhead, North Wales, although this closed in 2025, and a test facility at Portaferry, Northern Ireland. The company has tested devices and developed plans to install arrays off the coast of Anglesey, North Wales and in the Faroe Islands. They are also collaborating with National Taiwan Ocean University and TCC Green Energy, a subsidiary of Taiwan Cement, to develop projects in Taiwan. Minesto was formed in 2007 from the wind department of the Swedish aerospace and defense company Saab Group. The Minesto devices somewhat resembles a plane, with a wing and control surfaces to steer the device through the water in a figure-of-eight shape. It is tethered to the seabed by a cable that also carries power and communication signals. By "flying" through the water using hydrodynamic lift, the device can travel several time faster than the current speed, allowing it to be used in areas of lower tidal currents than conventional turbines.

Initial development The concept was initially developed in 2003 by the wind department of the Swedish Saab Group. Minesto was formed as a standalone company in 2007. The first sea trials of the technology was a scaled-down version of the turbine tested in Strangford Lough, Northern Ireland in 2011. This turbine had a wingspan of 3.0 m, a 1:4 prototype of a turbine with 12 m wingspan and 1 m rotor diameter. The kite was anchored to the seabed by a 27 m long tether, and flew in a loop approximately 20 m across the flow direction and 3 m high, with the highest point approximately 7 m below the surface. This took approximately 6-8 s to complete, with the kite flying at speeds of 2.5-5.5 m/s. This kite had a nacelle mounted below the wing, with a nine-bladed ducted turbine at the front and the control surfaces at the rear. As of 2023 testing continued in Strangford Lough, focusing on 3 m wingspan prototypes. In 2022, Minesto set up a framework agreement with two local marine service companies to support their activities.

Holyhead Deep In 2014, Minesto was awarded a seabed lease agreement from The Crown Estate for a 10 MW project in the Holyhead Deep. This is a depression in the Irish Sea to the west of the West Anglesey Demonstration Zone, now the Morlais site. It is approximately 6.5 km offshore, and was consented by Natural Resources Wales in April 2017. In 2017, Minesto submitted a scoping report for an 80 MW tidal kite array to be developed at the Holyhead Deep site. Although the company have a lease agreement for a 10 MW array, they state that the larger array would be more economical, with the levelized cost of electricity reduced by half. Between July and November 2018 the company tested a 500 kW Deep Green DG500 prototype of their tidal kite device in the Holyhead Deep. The turbine was connected to a buoy which analysed the power produced, but it was not connected to the GB Grid. In August 2019, Minesto redeployed the Deep Green DG500 turbine in the Holyhead Deep for further testing. The gravity base structure the kite was tethered onto was located at 53°17′49.8″N 4°47′57.3″W. Minesto again announced plans in September 2021 to develop the Holygead Deep tidal array, proposing to install a 1.2 MW by the end of 2022. However, by March 2022 they decided to focus on their projects in the Faroe Islands, citing "supply chain issues". Following the closure of their Welsh office in July 2025, CEO Martin Edlund said they "remain fully committed to our tidal site and build-out plan for Holyhead Deep".

Faroe Islands Two 100 kW Dragon 4 turbines were installed at Vestmannasund in the Faroe Islands in 2022, supplying electricity to the local grid via SEV. These have a 4.9 m wingspan, 1.3 m diameter rotor, and weigh 2.7 tonnes. They are tethered to the seabed by a 40 m long cable. In November 2023, Minesto shipped a 1.2 MW Dragon 12 turbine manufactured and tested in Sweden to the Faroes. This weighs 28 tonnes, has a wingspan of 12 m, and a turbine diameter of 3.5 m. In January 2024, the grid connection was installed for this and the launch and recovery system (LARS) tested. In February 2024, Minesto announced the Dragon 12 was successfully deployed and connected to the Faroes grid. The company have plans to build four arrays of 20–40 MW, totaling 120 MW in the Faroe Islands, reportedly supplying 40% of the islands electricity demand. In February 2024, they announced more ambitious plans for 200 MW to be developed, targeting Hestfjord for the next project. In June 2025, a consortium led by Minesto was awarded SEK 25 million (approximately $2.6m) from the Swedish Energy Agency, as part of a two-year SEK 56 million project in the Faroe Islands to build a "complete microgrid installation". The consortium also includes Capture Energy as the microgrid provider, the Faroes utility SEV, and the Swedish Environmental Research Institute IVL.

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Minesto

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Minesto claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Minesto before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Minesto ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Minesto

In research: Minesto appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Minesto in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Minesto is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Tidal power companies of the United Kingdom, Tidal power in Ireland, Tidal power in Wales, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Minesto outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

How to study Minesto in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Minesto means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Minesto out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Minesto in simple terms?

Minesto AB is a Swedish developer of electricity producing tidal kite turbines, based in Gothenburg. As of 2025 the company is focused on developing projects in the Faroe Islands.

Why does Minesto matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Minesto?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Minesto.